I only have 62 years remaining on my flat in Drybrook. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Drybrook.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Drybrook. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing solicitor in Drybrook who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Drybrook conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Drybrook. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Drybrook from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Drybrook can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Drybrook charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Drybrook.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a Drybrook home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £375000 apartment in Drybrook in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Drybrook?

Drybrook conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually results in fees being raised by landlords agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Drybrook
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Drybrook leasehold premises is £350. For Drybrook conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Drybrook - Examples of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the lessees have being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. You will want to discover as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues such as the upkeep of the communal areas. You should not be afraid to ask other people what they think of their management. On a final note, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and precisely what it includes.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Drybrook